Former Dodgers General Manager Fred Claire Passes Away

Former Los Angeles Dodgers public relations executive and general manager Fred Claire, whose three decades of service reached their apex with the 1988 World Series title, passed away Monday in Pasadena on his 91st birthday.

“The Dodgers are grieving the passing of Fred Claire, a longtime key fixture of our organization,” Dodgers president and CEO Stan Kasten said. “Fred brought many victories and Dodger legends to our franchise, as well as the 1988 World Series title, and we are forever grateful for his leadership during such a memorable era. Our hearts go out to his wife Sheryl and his family.”

The Jamestown, Ohio native and his family moved to Torrance when he was 15 years old. He graduated from Torrance High School and then earned his bachelor’s degree from San Jose State University.

A sportswriter throughout the late 1950s and 1960s, Claire first became involved with the Dodgers in 1969 when he was assigned to cover Spring Training in Vero Beach, Florida for the Long Beach Press-Telegram. He joined the Dodgers’ public relations team that summer and worked his way up in the department until he became vice president of the department in 1975.

During his time as VP, Claire was instrumental in creating the branding that came to be known as “Dodger Blue” and the following “Think Blue” campaign. He was also responsible for the hiring of announcer Ross Porter, who would remain a Dodgers announcer from 1977 until 2004.

Claire went on to become the Dodgers’ general manager from 1987-1998 and was instrumental in acquiring Kirk Gibson and other veteran players in the 1988 offseason, en route to the Dodgers winning the World Series against the Oakland Athletics in his second year as general manager.

”I knew some people might say, what does this guy know about baseball, he covered it from behind a typewriter?” former Dodger owner Peter O’Malley once told the Los Angeles Times. “But I knew Fred could take it. I knew he could do it. And he did it. He deserves a lot of credit for stepping in quickly, without any advance notice, and doing a great job.”

Claire is survived by his wife Sheryl, and children Jeff, Jennifer and Kim. Funeral services are pending.

Fred Claire’s involvement with infamous trades

Although Claire constructed the 1988 World Series team, he was also involved in one of the most lopsided trades in Dodgers history, sending Pedro Martinez to the Montreal Expos for Delino DeShields.

Claire acknowledged there was some risk with completing the trade, but believed it “made all the sense in the world.” Of course, Martinez went on to become one of the best pitchers in MLB history, while DeShields was unimpressive over three seasons with L.A.

A few years later, after FOX purchased the club, the new team officials made a trade without involving or telling Claire. They made one of the biggest moves in franchise history, trading Mike Piazza and Todd Zeile to the Florida Marlins for Gary Sheffield, Charles Johnson, Jim Eisenreich and Bobby Bonilla.

Claire was angry with the new ownership group, and on June 21, 1998, he was fired and replaced by Tommy Lasorda as the general manager.